Vending-machine.



W. E. VILLINGER.

VEND|NG MACHINE. 4 APPLICATION FILED DEc.21.1914. ENEwcn nic. 2, 1915.

1,168,349. Patented Jan.1e,1916.'

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

'me COLUMBIA PLANouRAPH I2C'u WASHINGTON, D. c.

W. E. VILLINGER.

VENDING MACHINE. APPucATloN man nsc.21. 1914. niuswsn oec. 2. 1915.

1,168,349. Patented Ja11.18, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

/0 f2 6i f5 'I -59 THE COLUMNA PLANOGRAPH co.. WASHINGTON. D. C.

NETE@ STATES ,PAENT FFQE.

WILLIAM EDWARD VILLINGER, OF WILLIAMSPORT, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TOl UNITED STATES SALES COMPANY, OF WILLIAMSPORT, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPO- RATION OF DELAWARE.

VENDING-IVIAOI-IINE.

Application filed December 21, 1914, Serial No. 878,260.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that l, 1WILLIAM EDWARD VILLINGEP., a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Williamsport, in the county of Lycoming and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vending-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in coin controlled vending apparatus.

rl`he primary object of this invention is to provide a vending device for smallarticles such as chewing gum and candy which is especially adapted for use upon the backs of theater chairs and other places where a special form of such device is requisite that will occupy an exceedingly small space and will present no irregular surfaces capable of injuring the clothing of occupants of adjacent chairs.

A still further object is to provide a vending device having a neat and artistic appearance and which is operable upon the insertion of a coin to project a contained article through the top of the device and to uniformly position such articles flatly resting upon the top thereof, while all of the shiftable elements automatically return to their rest positions after each actuation leaving the device casing entirely closed and the operative mechanism completely concealed with the device ready for a succeeding pur- Chaser.

A vstill further object is to provide a casing with a magazine compartment for containing a plurality of vendihle articles and having a coin-slot for operatively positioning a coin whereby the coin forms a wedging abutment between the operating lever ofthe dispensing mechanism and a retaining lock for the said lever and allowing a release of the lock upon an actuation of the lever, such operation of the lever simultaneously affording an opening of the dispensing slot, a forcible expulsion of a single cne of the con* tained articles and a closing of such slot in successive movements and prior tothe automatic return of the operating lever to its normal rest and locked position.

Vith these general objects in view and others that will appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully de- Specication of Letters Patent.

Renewed December 2, 1915. Serial No. 64,775.

scribed, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and set forth in the appended claims.v

In the drawings forming a part ofthis application and in which like-designating characters refer to lcorrespoding throughout the several views, Figure l is a central longitudinal sectional view 'of the device with the elements in their normal positions. Fig. 2 is a central transverse sectional view upon line 2-2 of Fig. 1 thereof. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view of the device taken upon line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken upon line '914-4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but with the mechanism positioned with the operating lever at the limit of its movement and illustrating in dotted lines one of the articles in its deposited position upon the top of the casing, and Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the device in its normal closed position.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, a casing l0 is illustrated having a coin entrance 'slot 11 and an article dispensing slot 12 in the top wall 13 thereof, while a hinged portion of the front plate 111 of the casing is normally secured closed by any desired form of lock device l5.

A plurality of the vendible articles 16 are positioned within a rack 17 and are in contact with each other,`the rearmost article which is at a greater distance from the dis-` pensing slot 12 is resiliently contacted by a pusher plate 18 having a centrally projecting rod 19 slidably positioned and telescopingwithin a tubular guide 20 rigidly secured to the inner face of the opposite end wall 21 of the casing, while a coiled projection spring 22 encircles the said guide and bears between the inner faces of the said follower plate and ycasing wall for forwardly feeding the said articles 16.

A closing plate 23 is slidably mounted upon the top of the rack 17 and has opposite depending flanges 24 overlying the edges of the rack while the lforward portion 25 of the plate normally closes the dispensing slot l2 and has its forw'ard edge seated within a receiving groo-ve 26 in the inner side of the adjacent casing wall or end 27. Opposite depending ears 28 are provided at the rear end of the plate 23 and have a pin 29 connecting the same which is slidably engaged between the bifurcations 30 of the free end parts l of a substantially right-angular lever arm 31, the opposite free end of which arm is pivc-ted as at 32 to the casing. A curved leaf spring 33 has one end thereof secured to the casing as at 34 while its opposite end freely engages the lever arm 31 and normally maintains the said arm in the position illusl trated vin F ig. 1, and with the plate 23 closingly positioned inwardly of the article dis-V pensing slot.`

An operating lever 35 36' projecting outwardly of the casing wall 21 through a slct 37 while an operating knob or yfinger slide 38 is pivoted to such end as at 39 and is provided with a slide plate 40V for completely closing the said slot 37 when theoperating lever is normally positioned asshown in Fig. 1.V The operating lever is pivoted within the casing upon a post 41 at an angular portion of the lever, while at an vided having a coin receiving shallow groove 43 `provided with a roughened or serrated bottom 44.

A latch 45 is pivoted within the casing -upon a post 46 and has a depending hook 47 adapted to normally engage beneath a projecting lug 48'of the operating arm for retaining the latter in its rest position. The portion 49 of the hook normally positioned beneath-the lug 48is straight or squared as herein shown for abutting engagement with the lug in the locking operation but such portion merges into the curved space 50 of the hook against which the lug engages for further swinging the latch to its released positionl when initially moved in that direction by the means hereinafter described.

A curved face 51 is provided upon the latch opposite the lever shoulder42 and has a similar shallow groove 52v coperating with the shoulder groove 43 for receiving and temporarily supporting a coin such as 53 which is fed thereintoby the curved coin chute 54 having its outer .end registering with the coin entrance slot 11 of the casing heretofore set forth. A leaf spring 55 carried by the casing wall 21 engages the adjacent face of the hook 47 and normally retains the latch 45 in the position illustrated in Fig. 1 and ready for the reception of a coin from the aforementioned chute.

A pawl 56 is pivoted to the opposite side of the operating lever 35 from that upon which the lug 48 is Alocated and the ylever is connected to a removed point 57 within the casing by a return spring 58.

A link 59 is swingingly mounted upon the pivoting post 32 of the arm 31 and has an angular slot 60 slidably receiving therein a pin 61 of the extension 62 of the operating lever, while a hook63 is pivoted at 64 to the said link and has its hooked end 65 normally engaging a projecting lug 66 upon the adja- V centface of the said arm 31.

has one end thereof A spring 67 is secured at one end as at 68 to the casing while its other end is secured to the said hook 63 for no-rmally hold- 63 for elevating the end 65 out of engagement with the lug 66 when the operating Alever is at substantially the termination of its operative movement as illustrated in Fig. 5. v

A pusher 7 O carries a pin 71 at its inner end slidably mounted within an end slot 72 of the lever extension 62, while the pusher is slidably positioned within the guide bracket 73 of the rack 17 and has a foot 7 4 above which the forwardmost articles 16 is placed when normally positioned and being theiebeneath is adapted for upward sliding v 4 movement for dispensing individually such opposite angle thereof a shoulder 42 is pro-* end positioned article.

lith the elements normally positioned as .illustrated in Fig. l, the coin 53 has been deposited through the slot l1 of the casing and having passed downwardly through the chute 54 .is resting in the opposite coperating holding grooves 43 and 52. With the coin so positioned, a downward movement of the operating lever being effected by ther swinging the latch and releasing the coin from its seat, while the operating lever continues its movement toV the position shown in Fig. 5. The pawl 56 engages within similar deep notches 75 at the ends of the toothedv rack 7 6 which is fixed to the casing Wall 21, such engagement taking place at the two extreme movements of the operatking lever, while` in the event of an interruption in the operating kmovement of such lever intermediate such extremes, the said pawl 56 will engage some of the intermediate teeth 77 of the rack and prevent a return of the operating lever prior to its having reached either extreme limit of its movement for completing the functional objects' for which it is designed, the pawl freely ratcheting over such intermediate teeth and preferably having a lower stop spring 85. Such operative' movement of the lever 35 .curved face 50 of the latch hook, thus fury results in` so moving the pin 61 within the angular end portion 7S of the slot 60 results in shifting the link 59 and downwardly moving the hook 63 which being engaged with the arm lug 66 initially retracts the dispensing slot guard plate 23. The continued movement of the operating lever then forces upwardly the pusher 70 and its foot 74 engaging beneath the forwardmost article within .the rack, such article is projected through the dispensing slot l2 and a guard 79 on the upper end of the pusher preventing such article from falling outwardly ofi" of the casing, the said article will take an arcuate path of movement over the beveled edge 80 of the casing top 13 at the inner side of the slct l2 and will assume its tiatly reclining pcsition upon the casing top as illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 5. At the end of the operative movement of the lever 35, the lug 69 of such lever engages beneath the hook 63 and elevates the same off of the arm lug 66 which thereby permits the spring 33 to return the dispensing slot guard plate 23 across the said slot and the end of such plate will engage the pusher guard 7 9 until the pusher is again returned to its retracted positicn upon returning the operatingrlever to it-s normal rest position and at which time the latch hook 47, again engages the lever lue; 4S and retains all of the elements locked against further movement until a further coin is inserted and the operating lever is again actuated.

It will be seen that after an actuation of the device, a release of the finger knob 38 allows the return spring 58 to pivotally move the operating lever to its normal position while the spring 67 normally holds the lever 63 engaging the lug 66 and the spring 33 returns the arms 3l and the slide plate 23 to their normal positions all asfillustrated in F ig. l. Y

It will be noted that the operating coin drops into the chamber 8l at the bottom of the casing from its seat within the grooves 43 and 52 and after the same has performed its function of connecting the operating lever with the releasing latch while access is had to such coin chamber by opening the door l/-l of the casing. It will be seen that while the movement of the lug (il within the portion 7S of the slot 60 operates in shifting the link 59 the required distance, the movement of the lug in the remaining portion 82 of the slot effects no swinging movement of the link. The article rack 17 heretofore described and the form of which is best illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings is secured within the casing by means of perforated lugs 83 carried thereby and connected to the casing by holdfast devices such as screws 84.

lVhile the form of the invention herein shown and described is what is believed to be the preferred embodiment thereof, it is nevertheless to be understood that minor changes may be made without departing fromthe spirit and scope-of. the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is l. A device of the class described comprising in combination with a casing having a dispensing slot, an article supporting rack within said casing adjacent the said slot, a guard plate U-shaped in cross section slidably mounted upon the top of said rack and having a forward extension shiftable inwardly of the said slot, a pivoted operating arm engaging the said plate, a pusher slidably positioned in alinement with the forwardmost article in the rack and with the said slot, an operating lever pivoted within said casing and having one end extending exteriorly thereof and its opposite end in operative engagement with the said pusher, a link swingingly mounted at the pivotal point of the said arm and having an angular slot therein, and operative connections between the said link and aforementioned arm and lever.

2. A device of the class described comprising in combination with a casing having a dispensing slot, an article supporting rack within said casing.)` adjacent the said slot, a guardplate U-shaped in cross section slidably mounted upon the top of said rack and having a forward extension shiftable inwardly of the said slot, a pivoted operating arm engaging the said plate, a pusher slidably positioned in alinement with the forwardmost article in the rack and with the said slot, an operatinglever pivoted within said casing and having one end extending exteriorly thereof and its opposite end in operative engagement with the said pusher, a link swingingly mounted at the pivotal point of the said arm and having an angular slot' therein, lugs upon the said arm and'lever, a hook pivoted to the said link and eX- tending over the said arm lug and being within the disengagingline of movement of the said lever lug.

3. A device of the class described comprising in combination with a casing having a dispensing slot, an article supporting rack within said casing adjacent the said slot, a guard plate U-shaped in cross section slidably mounted upon the top of said rack and having a forward extension shiftable inwardly of the said slot, a pivoted operating arm engaging the said plate, a pusher slidably positioned in alinement with the forwardmost article in the rack and with the said slot, an operating lever pivoted within said casing and having one end extending eXteriorly thereof and its opposite end in operative engagement with the said pusher, a link swingingly mounted at the pivotal point of the said arm and having an angular slot therein, lugs upon the said arm and lever, a hook pivoted to the said link and extending over the said arm lug and being within the disengaging lino of movement of the said lever lug, a lug upon the rear portion of said lever slidably positioned within the said slot and shiftably engageable within the link only during the initial operating Vmovement of the said lever and normal positioning springs for the said hook and arm.

1I. A device of the class described comprisinga casing having an article dispensing slot having one lateral wall vertical and the prising a casing having a transverse slot adjacent one end of the top wallthereof, a supporting rack for articles arranged within said casing, an article engaged pusher slidably positioned inwardly of the said slot 'and having a side plate extension flatly en gaging the adjacent end of the casing and projectable through the saidslot, one lateral wall of the slot being vertical and the other lateral wall being inclined upwardlyV and away Jfrom the first wall, whereby the dispensed article is permitted to drop into flat engagement with the casing top.

6. A device of the class described com- Copies of this patent may be obtained for prising a Icasing having a dispensing slot adjacent one end'of thev top wall thereof7 said slot having the side nearest the'end of said top wall forming a continuation of the inner side of the end wall, the slot further having its opposite side inclined upwardly and away from the first side, and an eX- pelling mechanism including a plate fitting against the end wall of the casing and pi'ojectable through the slot, and the shoulder on the plate positioned intermediate its .ends

and arranged to engage `and expel thek articles. j

7. A device of the class describedcomprising a casing having a dispensingwslotV adjacent one end of the top wall thereof,

said slot having the side nearest the end of said top wall forming a continuation or' thek inner side of lthe end wall, the slot further having its opposite side inclined upwardly and away from the first side, an expelling mechanism including a plate fitting against the end wall of the casing and proj ectionable through the slot and the shoulder onthe plate positioned intermediate its ends and arranged to engage and expel the articles, a supporting rack for articles arranged within the casing and a cut-ofi" guard for said slot including a U-shaped plate carried by said supporting rack and having its lugs engaging between the side walls of the casing and said rack.

In testimony whereof I-affix my signature in presenceof two witnesses.

WILLIAM EDWARD VILLINGER. lVitnesses:

G. FRED KNODLER, J oHN N. Roon.

ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents` Washington, D. C. 

